Effective security operations are built on a continuous and risk-based approach. This process involves regular vulnerability assessments to maintain an up-to-date view of the security posture. Crucially, it prioritizes remediation not just on technical severity but on business context—using asset criticality to understand the potential impact of a compromise and threat intelligence to focus on vulnerabilities that are actively being exploited or are likely to be targeted. This strategic allocation of resources ensures that the most significant threats to the organization are addressed first, which is a core principle of a mature vulnerability management program and effective security operations.

A. Annual scanning is far too infrequent in a rapidly changing threat landscape, leaving the company exposed to new vulnerabilities for extended periods.

B. Outsourcing without integration creates information silos, preventing the vulnerability management process from benefiting from internal context and aligning with overall security goals.

C. A lack of accountability and progress tracking is a fundamental management failure that ensures vulnerabilities will not be remediated consistently or effectively.

1. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (2020). Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations (Special Publication 800-53, Revision 5).

Section: Control RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).

Details: NIST guidance emphasizes the need for organizations to "scan for vulnerabilities in the system... at the organization-defined frequency" (RA-5) and "remediate flaws within an organization-defined time period" (SI-2). The entire NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF) is predicated on prioritizing actions based on risk to organizational operations and assets.

2. Stanford University Information Security Office. (2023). Vulnerability Management Standard.

Section: Requirements, §2. Vulnerability Scanning and §4. Remediation.

Details: The standard mandates regular scanning of systems and requires that "remediation priority of identified vulnerabilities must be based on the risk they pose to the University." It explicitly states that risk rating should consider factors like CVSS score, threat intelligence, and asset exposure, directly supporting the principles in the correct answer.

3. Bozorgi, M., Saul, M., Jahromi, S. H., & Mozaffari-Kermani, M. (2022). On the Prioritization of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures through Threat Intelligence. IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, 19(5), 3473-3487.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TDSC.2021.3092511

Details: This peer-reviewed article (Abstract, Section I) highlights the challenge of handling numerous vulnerabilities and argues for prioritization models that incorporate "real-world threat intelligence" alongside standard severity scores to focus remediation efforts on the most probable and impactful threats.